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Newbeginner on Camino Sanabrès

ngrace

New Member
Hi,

This is my first time walking pilgrimage, am planning to walk the last 100km to Santiago de Compostela this Eastern (will be in Spain March 29th - April 6th). Got a tip that a good starting point is Ourense following Camino Sanabrès. Have read that some of the stages are quite steep, so I was wondering if this route is to recommend for newbeginners? Am walking with my mom, none of us are used to hiking, but both in good shape.

Am planning to walk these stages:
Day 1 Ourense - San Cristovo de Cea 21
Day 2 San Cristovo de Cea to Castro Dozón 18
Day 3 Castro Dozón to Silleda 27
Day 4 Silleda to Ponte Ulla 22
Day 5 Ponte Ulla to Santiago de Compostela 21

Also wondered how it is with albergues, should one make reservations (is it even possible)?
Any to recommend, especially in Santiago de de Compostela?

Have been doing some research on this forum, but there is a lot of different information, so I appreciate all tips!


-Nadine-
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Hi Nadine and welcome to the Forum,

The day from Ourense to Cea is the steepest (19% or 1 in 5 in places) and there are two alternative routes. The hill is only for a few kilometres from memory.

The terrain otherwise is undulating but perfectly manageable and your stage distances look comfortable.

I'm afraid that I don't think it is possible to make reservations with the municipal Albergues. When I walked this route in April 2007 there was not a problem finding beds. I don't know whether this route has increased in popularity since then but hopefully someone who has walked it more recently will respond.

Regards and Buen Camino
Mig
 
Hi, Nadine,
I walked the VDLP in 2010 and took the Sanabres route, it's lovely. Mig is right about the way out of Ourense, it's steep. There are two options, one to the left, one to the right, very shortly after you cross the bridge leaving Ourense.

There are a couple of prior posts on the topic of which way to go out of Ourense, so I won't repeat what I said there:
camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic10127.html
camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic5714.html

As Mig said, there are no reservations in the municipal albergues. I spent a night in the Monastery of Oseira (a bit cold, but highly recommended!), which is about 8 or 10 kms beyond Cea, I think.

I was also on the final part of this camino last year when I walked the Camino de Invierno, so my information beyond Laxe is only a year out of date, rather than two.

I don't know the albergue in Silleda, but it's a big-ish town with cafes and grocery stores. The albergue in Ponte Ulla is actually not in Ponte Ulla, but about an hours' walk uphill to the hamlet of Outeiro. There is a chain grocery store on the way up and out of Ponte Ulla, where you can buy groceries. There is also a great bakery in town, right on the camino.

Outeiro doesn't have shops, but there is a restaurant about 1 1/2-2 km downhill where people go for dinner (the restaurant delivers as well!). There is also a fancy old estate turned into a rural hotel if you are looking for a splurge: http://www.pazodegalegos.com/
I arrived early in Outeiro and walked down to look around, and I got a very nice tour, this is a beautiful place.

The albergue in Outeiro is very nice -- last year when I was there, they had just hired a new hospitalera who was taking great pride in keeping the place clean, which is a most welcome development! There are two big rooms, lots of showers, nice grassy areas, etc.

I think you'll enjoy this route a lot, there is a lot of beautiful rural walking. Buen camino, Laurie
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Yeah, it is a further 4.5 km from the river crossing at Ponte Ulla, uphill to the Albergue at Outeiro. But on the bright side, that's 4.5 km less to walk on your last day :wink:

I didn't stay at Silleda either so can't give you any help there. The Albergue at A Laxe (Lalin) was very modern and comfortable but makes for two 30+ km days between Cea and Ponte Ulla rather than the 3 more comfortable ones that you have in your schedule.

Regards
Mig
 
Hi Miguel and Laurie

Thank you for the help, was very useful!
What I´ve seen from the links of the prior posts it seems the RH route out of Ourense is the most suitable or us, and also out of Cea to visit the Monastery of Oseira. I might have to reconsider the last stages from Dozón to Santiago then, the Xacobeo gave a good suggestion. Maybe we'll ajust the stages along the road, see how it goes. If necessary, we can walk atleast one day extra

-Nadine-
 
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